A little different…but when it comes to cheesecake anything is good! This one will be a hit on your celebration tables, or at any potluck, BBQ, or picnic. For low-carb-hardly-any-calories serve with assorted cut veggies to dip.

The add-ins are really up to you. Sub out the tomatoes for greek olives and part of the mozzarella for feta cheese. Stir in a little crushed pineapple or jalapenos…anything you’d like. Leave off the crust altogether for even lower calories – I’ve given stats for either way.

(For complete fabulous-ness don’t be tempted to use fat-free cream cheese as it tends to make cheesecakes rubbery!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir together bread crumbs and melted butter. Pat into the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan (OR 9-inch deep dish pie plate). Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

In large bowl whip cream cheese just to soften. Add shredded cheese, green onions, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, and mix to combine. Add eggs, one at a time and beat just until each egg is no longer visible. Fold in tomatoes. Pour filling into crust. Place pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until almost firm in the middle.

Remove to a wire rack and run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake. Let cool completely before removing sides of pan. When cooled, wrap tightly and chill overnight or preferably a couple days. Makes 20 appetizer servings.

Valentine’s Breakfast for a special someone? Perfect. Lazy Sunday morning for those you love all year? Amazing gesture!

These are gorgeous and have the familiar red velvet flavor that’s coveted. A hint of cocoa, slightly sweet…and a fun deep red that makes them seem more work than they are! I topped them with a traditional cream cheese-whipped cream “frosting”, and a drizzle of syrup.

No matter when you make them, or who you make them for…you’ll be loved in return!

I also think this batter would work as pancakes, if you don’t have a waffle maker…might as well give it a shot!

(These are not low carb…simply low in sugar. But for a special day, we’ll live through it!)

In a large bowl whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, Splenda (sugar), salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, egg yolks, melted butter, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined.

In another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. With a spatula, fold into the batter mixture. (It’s okay if a few fluffs remain.)

Make in a preheated waffle iron per instructions. Serve immediately with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream.

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Cream Cheese Whipped Cream:

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup Splenda (or powdered sugar)

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened

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Beat the whipping cream, Splenda, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Beat in the cream cheese until smooth.

Makes approx 7 servings, depending on your waffle maker. I used a Belgium maker and the photo below is from one batch in the maker. Stats are for seven servings (two waffles, each about 5 inches square; approx 1/3 cup of topping) that look like the photo.

WOW. This is one rich pie. I made it into a PIE once, actually…since then I freeze it in slightly rounded 1/4 cup portions and stick it away for a frozen nap. (Out of sight, out of mind…… oh, who am I kidding? I know it’s there, but it’s harder to binge on when it’s solid as a rock!)

Anyhow…yes, it’s rich. But for a special treat it is absolutely fantastic and so good, you’ll swear you really shouldn’t be eating it. But you can. In moderation. Like small servings – frozen, to slowly shave off tiny bites and completely savor over several luxurious, heavenly moments!

(Ignore the ancient photo. I haven’t had the energy to take new ones this summer – maybe soon! Plus it’s a humongous piece. Did I mention not to pig out on this fabulousness?! )

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.Crust: (totally and completely optional – I give you stats for both ways)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In microwave-safe bowl melt peanut butter and butter. Add to crumbs and mix until well combined. Pat into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely.

Sometimes being bad is really very good…and with this cake, on a special Valentine’s Day (with someone or alone!) it’s even better.

I’ve cut the original recipe in half to give you a single layer, but split it and stacked the gorgeousness into an impressive little number that will get you noticed and loved in return. (The photo makes it look taller than it is!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 inch round or square cake pan with vegetable cooking spray and dust with 1 tablespoon cake flour, tapping upside down to remove the excess, and set aside.

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In a medium bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Set aside. In a large bowl cream the butter and WL until light and fluffy, at least 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Carefully beat in red food coloring, scraping bowl frequently.

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Beat in 1/2 of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk; then the remaining flour mixture. In a small bowl combine the vinegar and baking soda and quickly stir into the batter. Immediately pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out still moist, with large crumbs – or almost clean, but not wet/raw. Do not over-bake! Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan by placing the wire rack on top of the cake and invert; allow to cool completely. (To ensure that your cake stays nice and moist, when the cake is out of the pan and on the rack, lay plastic wrap loosely over the top as it cools.) Split cake in half with a serrated knife or a long piece of thread and frost with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting. (This needs to be kept in the fridge and actually gets better a day later. I put toothpicks on the top to keep the plastic wrap from ruining the frosting.)

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Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

One 8-ounce pkg. reduced fat cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups Splenda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

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In a medium bowl beat the whipped cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside. In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Beat in Splenda and vanilla. Gently fold in whipped cream. (This makes a lot of frosting, but it’s worth it! You may not use it all on the cake, but it’s great on other things, too.)

In a medium bowl beat the Ricotta with the eggs. Beat in the flour, salt, milk, vanilla, and Splenda. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Heat an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Coat with vegetable cooking spray when hot. Pour in 2 tablespoons of batter and swirl the pan to coat the entire surface in a thin layer. Allow to cook, without turning, until completely done. The top should be no longer shiny and when you touch it it’s not wet. The bottom will be have a very slight golden color. If it’s too dark, lower the heat. (These can be impossible to flip and they don’t need to be, so you don’t have try!) Gently loosen the edges with a spatula and slide out of the pan onto a plate. Very lightly spray the top with vegetable spray – this way you can stack them on top of each other.

Lightly coat the pan with cooking spray before each crepe. Proceed with above directions until batter is gone. Allow the crepes to cool to room temperature and then wrap the plate tightly with plastic wrap. These keep well in the fridge – unfilled – for several days.

In a medium bowl beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the half & half, pudding powder, vanilla, and Splenda. If it becomes too thick add more half & half. It should have the consistency of the ‘whipped’ cream cheese you can buy in a tub. Not soft like pudding, but not as hard as regular cream cheese.

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Extras:
Fresh or frozen berries
Chocolate sauce
Whipped cream

To assemble blintzes: Place 1 tablespoon of the filling on the edge of the crepe. Fold the crepe in half over the filling dollop and then fold the empty side over the dollop so that it is folded in fourths. Place two crepes on each plate and scatter with berries, drizzle with chocolate sauce and top with whipped cream. Makes 6 servings (2 blintzes each)

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl combine cookie or graham crumbs with melted butter. Press into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 7 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

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In a large bowl beat together cream cheese, Splenda, and syrup until smooth. Beat in 1/2 the whipped cream OR 1/2 of the container of Cool Whip. Pour filling into cooled crust. Spread warmed jam over the cream cheese mixture. Cover loosely with plastic wrap (try not to let the wrap stick to the jam – use 3 or 4 toothpicks if necessary) and chill for 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with remaining Cool Whip and chocolate shavings.

This recipe has been around for awhile. I’ve poo-pooed it and thought: GAG. But that just goes to show ya’…try it before you say you don’t like it!

I have to thank so many people from Before&AfterChat message board for being ‘pushers’ and talking incessantly about this stuff. I finally broke down and made a batch and it’s pretty darn good.

Light, airy, fluffy, mild tasting – not eggy at all. I made it with cream cheese, and the smell was wonderful as it baked. It has sort of a tangy flavor – maybe like a very mild sourdough. But this is right out of the oven and cooled. We’ll see what we get after it sits overnight and mellows!

This is NOT bread…and won’t pass for it in a blind taste-test!! But as a “holder” for all sorts of fixings, this works great.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, with very clean beaters, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar for 3-4 minutes – or until very stiff peaks form and they are almost turning dry. Set aside.

With the same beaters, in a large bowl beat the cold cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks, Splenda, and salt for 2 minutes until light yellow.

Gently fold one-third of the egg whites into the yolk mixture to lighten. Fold in the remaining whites until all fluffs disappear, but be careful not to deflate them.

Mound into desired sizes on the prepared baking sheet (or in a pizza pan, or muffin tins, or a mini loaf pan…whatever shape and size you want). Bake for 30 minutes – depending on size. (I made 6 large pieces and 30 minutes was just right. Smaller sizes will require less time…just watch.) They should be a deep golden brown and crispy to the touch.

Immediately loosen with a pancake turner and allow to cool for a few minutes on the pan. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag.

These are the stats for the WHOLE recipe. Divide by how many servings you prefer.